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ORDINANCES  ~ 


ADOPTKD    HY   THE 


CONVENTION  OF  VIRGINIA, 


AT    ill  I- 


ADJOURNED    SESSION, 


IN 


NOVEMBER  AND  DECEMBER,  1861, 


ORGANIZATION. 

5.  The  militia  of  the  State  shall  continue  to  be  organized  into  divisions, 
brigades,  regiments,  battalions  and  companies,  but  the  organization  of  each  class 
shall  be  distinct  and  separate  from  that  of  the  other  class.  In  each  company- 
district,  the  Governor  shall  cause  to  be  organized  two  companies,  one  of  the  ac- 
tive class  and  one  of  the  reserve;  and  in  each  regimental  and  battalion  district, 
where  there  is  a  battalion  district  not  comprised  within  a  regimental  district,  he 
shall  cause  to  be  organized  two  regiments  or  battalions,  one  of  the  active  class 
and  one  of  the  reserve,  and  he  shall  then  organize  brigades  and  divisions  of  the 
active  class  and  brigades  and  divisions  of  the  reserve,  assigning  not  less  than  four 
regiments  to  a  brigade,  and  not  less  than  two  brigades  to  a  division.  The  Go- 
vernor may  distribute  the  militia  as  infantry,  cavalry,  and  light  and  heavy  artil- 
lery, at  his  discretion,  not  exceeding,  however,  the  proportion  of  one  battery  of 
artillery  and  one  troop  of  cavalry  to  each  regiment  of  infantry.  He  may  orga- 
nize the  artillery  and  cavalry  into  regiments  and  battalions,  and  he  may  assign 
men  to  the  cavalry  and  artillery  service  without  confining  a  troop  or  company  to 
one  company  district.  No  officer,  non-commissioned  officer  or  private,  assigned 
to  cavalry  or  artillery  service,  shall  be  required  to  furnish  his  own  horse.  The 
Governor  shall  cause  the  regiments  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery  to  be  num- 
bered, assigning  the  same  number  to  the  active  regiment,  and  the  reserve  regi- 
ment of  infantry  in  the  same  regimental  district,  and  distinguishing  them  as  ac- 
tive or  reserve  regiments. 

COAST    DEFENCE. 

6.  The  Governor  may  assign  all  enrolled  seamen  and  mariners  to  the  defence 
of  the  coast  and  rivers  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  may  require  them  to  serve 
afloat  or  on  shore,  but  their  term  of  service  shall  not  differ  from  that  of  the  class 
to  which  they  belong.  He  may  organize  them  as  infantry  or  artillery  or  as  sea- 
men and  marines  for  service  afloat,  and  in  the  latter  organization  he  shall  follow 
as  nearly  as  practicable  that  of  the  Confederate  States  Navy,  and  may  appoint 
and  commission  the  officers  necessary  under  the  said  organization.  And  when 
the  militia  are  organized  fcr  service  afloat  and  actually  serve  in  that  manner 
without  being  accepted  and  piid  by  the  Confederate  States,  their  rate  of  pay  re- 
ceived from  this  Commonveilth  shall  be  the  same  as  that  allowed  in  the  Con- 
federate States  Navy.  It  si  all  be  competent  for  the  Governor  to  officer  the  said 
marine  force  in  whole  or  in  part  with  such  officers  of  the  Confederate  States 
Navy  as  may  be  permitted  by  the  Confederate  Government  to  enter  the  said  ser- 
vice. Instead  of  enrolling  and  organizing  seamen  and  mariners  with  the  militia, 
the  Governor  may  cause  a  separate  enrolment  and  organization  to  be  made  of 
all  such  persons  resident  in  the  Commonwealth,  whether  of  military  age  or  not, 
for  a  term  of  service  not  exceeding  three  years,  and  they  shall  be  excused  from 
all  other  military  duty. 


7.  General  and  field  officers  of  the  militia  and  volunteers  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor.  The  reserve  shall  have  no  general  offipers,  but  shall  serve 
under  the  general  officers  of  the  active  class.  In  time  of  war,  however,  the  Go- 
vernor may  refrain  from  making  appointments  of  general  officers,  or  from  calling 
them  into  service,  and  may  permit  the  troops  to  serve  under  general  officers  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  but  without  prejudice  to  the 
Constitutional  rights  of  this  Commonwealth.  Volunteer  companies  at  the  time 
of  their  organization  shall  elect  a  Captain  and  one  first  and  two  second  Lieu- 
tenants, or  two  first  and  one  second  Lieutenant  as  in  corresponding  arms  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  who  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor.  Vacancies 
among  commissioned  officers  of  volunteers  and  militia  companies  occurring  be- 
fore and  after  they  have  been  mustered  into  the  service  shall  be  filled  as  hereto- 
fore. The  company  officers  of  the  militia  shall  be  of  the  same  grade  as  those  of 
the  volunteers.  Appointments  of  generals  and  field  officers  shall  be  submitted  to 
the  Senate  for  confirmation  at  its  next  session.  Such  appointments  shall  con- 
tinue valid  until  rejected.  Each  commandant  of  a  regiment  or  battalion  shall 
appoint  hi?  adjutant  and  sergeant  major.    So  soon  as  the  enrolment  in  two  com- 


pany  districts  in  the  same  regimental  or  battalion  district  is  complete  for  either 
the  active  or  the  reserve  class,  the  Governor  shall  appoint  the  colonel  of  the  re- 
giment or  the  major  of  the  battalion  containing  the  said  two  enrolled  companies, 
and  the  colonel  or  major  so  appointed  shall  order  the  election  of  company  officers 
as  the  enrolmenVof  the  companies  in  his  regiment  or  battalion  shall  be  com- 
pleted and  shall  organize  forthwith  his  regiment  or  battalion  and  report  the  same 
to  the  Governor.  But  no  colonel  or  major  of  cavalry  or  artillery  shall  be  ap- 
pointed until  all  the  companies  in  his  regiment  or  battalion  shall  be  organized, 
and  orders  for  the  election  of  company  officers  of  cavalry  and  artillery  shall  is- 
sue from  the  adjutant  general.  Officers  whose  appointments  are  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Senate  for  confirmation  shall  not  be  commissioned  until  their  appointments 
are  confirmed,  but  in  the  meanwhile  shall  be  deemed  commissioned.  No  general 
or  field  officer  of  the  militia  shall  be  mustered  into  service,  with  less  than  the 
following  number  of  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  in  his  command:  A 
major  general,  4,000;  a  brigadier  general,  2,000;  a  colonel  or  lieutenant  colonel, 
500-  a  major,  250.  Where  a  company  in  actual  service  shall  have  for  three 
months  continuously,  less  than  fifty  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  it 
Shall  be  incorporated  with  other  companies  in  the  same  regiment  or  battalion, 
and  the  commissions  of  the  officers  shall  be  revoked.  If  there  be  two  or  more 
companies  in  the  same  regiment  or  battalion,  with  less  than  the  said  number  ot 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  they  shall  be  consolidated;  the  commis- 
sions of  the  officers  shall  be  revoked,  and  the  requisite  number  be  reelected. 

MUSTERS    AND    TRAINING. 

8  Musters  and  trainings  of  the  reserve  shall  continue  as  heretofore.  Those 
for  the  active  class  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Governor.  He  may  furnish  camp 
equipage  to  the  active  class,  or  such  portion  of  them  as  may  be  ordered  into  en- 
campments for  military  exercises,  and  to  the  reserve  when  mustered  into  service. 

• 

CALLING   THE  MILITIA  INTO   SERVICE. 

9  When  the  militia  are  needed  for  active  service  the  Governor  shall  first 
call  out  the  active  class,  or  such  portion  of  it  as  maybe  necessary,  unless  the  exi- 
gency is  such  as  to  require  both  the  active  class  and  the  reserve,  butdie  need  not 
call  out  the  entire  active  class  before  calling  out  any  portion  of  the  reserve.  In 
all  cases  where  the  reserve  is  called  out,  it  shall  be  relieved  as  speedily  as  possi- 
ble by  the  active  class. 

TERM   OF   SERVICE. 

10  The  term  of  service  of  the  reserve  shall  "be  as  heretofore;  that  of  the  ac- 
tive class  shall  be  as  follows:  All  under  26  years  of  age,  three  years;  and  the 
rest  two  years.  Service  as  a  volunteer,  as  well  heretofore  as  hereafter,  shall  be 
estimated  as  service  in  the  active  class,  but  shall  not  shorten  the  aggregate  ser- 
vice which  would  otherwise  have  been  due  from  such  volunteer.  But  if  such 
volunteer  be  in  service  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  ordinance,  and  shall 
serve  continuously  two  years,  no  further  service  shall  be  required  from  him  in 
the  active  class,  and  he  shall  be  deemed  in  the  reserve.  If  the  term  of  service 
due  from  a  member  of  the  active  class  be  not  rendered  continuously,  he  may 
again  be  called  out  for  the  remainder  of  the  term,  but  not  longer. 

VOLUNTEERS. 

11.  The  organization  of  the  volunteers  shall  remain  as"  heretofore.  When 
the  term  of  service  for  which  a  volunteer  has  been  mustered  in  is  about  to  ex- 
pire, and  the  militia  company  in  which  he  has  been  or  ought  to  be  enrolled  is 
mustered  in,  or  about  to  be  mustered  into  service,  he  shall  have  the  option  ot 
volunteering  for  one  vear  more,  or  of  being  mustered  into  the  service  with  the 
militia  company  of  which  he  is  a  member.  If  he  prefer  to  be  discharged  from 
the  volunteer  service,  he  shall  receive  his  discharge,  and  the  fact  of  such  dis- 
charge shall  of  itself  be  deemed  a  mustering  into  service  as  a  member  ot  the 
militia  company  to  Which  he  belongs,  if  such  company  be  m  service.    In  either 


case,  such  furlough  shall  be  granted  to  him  as  the  public  safety  permits,  but  it 
shall  specify  the  company  of  which  he  is  a  member.  A  volunteer  may  elect,  at 
any  time  before  the  expiration  of  his  ttrm  of  service,  to  reenter  the  volunteer 
service,  and  thereupon  his  furlough  may  be  granted  if  the  public  safety  permits  it. 

Furloughs,  absences  and  failures  to  enrol. 

12.  All  persons,  whether  volunteers  or  militia,  who  over-stay  their  time  after 
a  furlough  or  leave  of  absence,  or  who  shall  absent  themselves  from  their  com- 
pany without  permission,  or  fail  to  enrol  themselves  in- the  militia  company  in 
which  they  should  be  enrolled,  for  thirty  days  after  notice  requiring  enrolment  to 
be  made  has  been  posted  at  three  places  of  public  resort  in  the  company  district, 
shall,  in  addition  to  such  other  punishment  as  the  law  may  inflict,  have  their 
term  of  service  lengthened  three  days  for  every  day  they  have  overstayed  their 
furlough  or  leave  of  absence,  absented  themselves  without  permission,  or  failed 
to  enrol,  unless  they  show  good  cause  before  a  court  of  inquiry  for  such  absence 
or  failure  to  enrol.        ^ 

REPEAL    OF    MILITIA    LAW. 

13.  The  militia  laws  and  the  laws  concerning  volunteers,  shall  continue  in 
force  except  so  far  as  they  may  be  in  conflict  with  the  foregoing  ordinance,  and 
the  militia  law  shall  apply  to  both  classes  of  militia.  The  existing  organization 
shall  continue  in  each  regimental  and  battalion  district  until  the  company  officers 
of  the  active  companies  in  the  district  are  elected.  The  authority  of  all  officers, 
regimental  and  company,  under  the  existing  laws,  shall  then  cease,  except 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  reserve.  General  and  staff  officers  shall  re- 
main in  commission  until  their  successors  are  appointed.  All  acts  and  parts  of 
acts,  in  conflict  with  the  foregoing  ordinance,  are  hereby  repealed. 

This  ordinance  shall  take  effect  from  its  passage,  and  may  be  repealed  or 
ameided  by  the  General  Assembly. 


No.  94.— An  ORDINANCE  authorizing  that  ordinances  may  be  enrolled  otherwise  than  now 

required  by  law. 

Passed  December  4, 1861. 

It  having  been  made  known  to  the  Convention,  that  it  is  impossible  to  procure 
parchment  for  the  enrolment  of  the  ordinances,  according  to  the  requirements  of 
existing  laws, 

Be  it  therefore  ordained,  That  the  Secretary  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  to 
enrol  the  ordinances  which  haYe  been,  or  may  be,  passed  by  this  Convention,  on 
substantial  paper. 


No.  95.— An  ORDINANCE  authorizing  the  General  Assembly  to  fill  vacancies  in  that  body  in 

certain  cases. 

Passed  December  4, 1861.  N 

Whereas,  vacancies  may  have  occurred  or  may  occur  in  the  General  Assembly, 
and,  by  reason  of  the  presence  of  the  public  enemy,  it  may  be  impossible  to  fill 
such  vacancies  in  the  mode  now  provided  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  therefore, 

Be  it  ordained,  That  in  all  such  cases  now  existing,  or  that  may  hereafter  occur 
during  the  present  war,  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Delegates  shall  each  have 
power  to  elect  members  to  fill  such  vacancies  in  its  own  body,  or  such  vacancies 
may  be  filled  in  such  other  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  may  prescribe  by  law. 


No.  96.— An  ORDINANCE  concerning  Treasury  Noteg. 
Passed  December  4.  1S61. 

Whereas,  by  ordinances  of  this  Convention,  number  thirty-five,  entitled  "an 
ordinance  to  authorize  the  issue  of  treasury  notes,"  passed  April  30th,  1861, 
and  an  ordinance  number  seventy  one,  entitled  "an  ordinance  authorizing  trea- 
sury notes,  and  concerning  the  banks,"  passed  June  28th,  1861,  authority  was 
given  to  issue  treasury  notes  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  in  the  aggregate,  the 
sum  of  six  millions  of  dollars,  of  which  four  millions  were  to  bear  interest  at 
the  rate  of  six  per  centum  per  annum,  and  the  remaining  two  millions  were  to 
be  without  interest;  and  it  being  desirable  to  relieve  the  treasury  from  the  pay- 
ment of  interest  on  the  treasury  notes  used  and  circulated  as  a  currency, 

Be  it  ordained,  That  the  Auditor  of  Pnblic  Accounts  be  and  he  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  issue  treasury  notes,  which  shall  bear  no  interest,  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  four  millions  of  dollars,  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  at  maturity,  or 
at  such  other  time  as  they  may  be  presented  for  payment,  the  interest  bearing 
treasury  notes  which  were  issued  under  the  ordinances  of  this  Convention, 
passed  as  aforesaid,  respectively,  on  the  30th  day  of  April,  1861,  and  on  the  28th 
day  of  June,  1861.  The  said  notes  shall  be  of  denominations  not  less  than  five 
dollars — be  payable  to  bearer  at  the  treasury,  on  demand — and  when  presented 
for  payment  in  sums  of  five  hundred  dollars,  or  any  multiple  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars above  that  sum,  they  may  be  converted  into  registered  bonds  of  the  State, 
bearing  six  per  centum  per  annum  interest.  All  the  provisions  of  said  ordi- 
nances, numbers  thirty-five  and  seventy-one,  in  this  ordinance  referred  to,  and 
the  ordinance  entitled  "an  ordinance  requiring  the  banks  to  receive  the  treasury 
notes  of  this  Commonwealth,"  passed  July  1st,  1861,  shall  be  held  to  apply  to 
the  notes  authorized  to  be  issued  by  this  ordinance,  except  so  far  only  as  they 
may  be  inconsistent  therewith.  And  to  enable  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts 
to  execute  the  provisions  of  this  ordinance,  he  is  authorized  to  employ  for  the 
ptr pose  of  dating,  numbering,  clipping  and  registering  said  notes  such  clerical 
force,  in  addition  to  that  now  in  his  office,  as  may  be-necessary  for  the  object,  at 
an  expense  not  exceeding  the  rate  of  nine  hundred  dollars  per  annum  for  the 
time  so  employed.  All  expenses  incurred  in  the  execution  of  this  act,  shall  be 
defrayed  out  of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

This  ordinance  shall  be  in  force  from  its  passage. 


No.  97— An  ORDINANCE,  enabling  the  Bank  of  the  GUI  Dominion,  at  Pearisburg,  and  the  North- 
western Bank,  at  Jeil'ersonville,  to  issue  small  notes. 

Passed  December  5, 1SG1. 

Be  it  ordained,  That  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance  passed  on  the  26th  day  of 
April,  1861,  permitting  the  issue  of  notes  of  a  less  denomination  than  five  dollars, 
by  the  banks  of  this  Commonwealth  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  extended  to  the 
Bank  of  the  Old  Dominion,  at  Pearisburg,  and  to  the  North-western  Bank,  at 
JefFersonviile. 


No.  9S  —  An  ORDINANCE  concerning  returned  Natives. 
Passed  December  6, 1S61. 

Be  it  ordained,  That  natives  of  Virginia  who  were  residents  of  any  other  States 
or  countries,  prior  to  the  4th  day  of  March  last,  *d  who  since  that  time  have 
returned  hither,  with  the  intention  of  permanently  resuming  their  citizenship,  or 
who,  are  now  here  with  such  intention,  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  citizens  of  Virginia,  as  fully  as  if  they  had  never  resided  elsewhere. 

This  ordinance  shall  take  effect  from  its  passage. 


No.  99— An  ORDINANCE  to  authorize  the  qualified  voters  of  the  Commonwealth,  who  may  be  In 
the  military  service  of  the  State,  or  the  Confederate  States,  to  vote  for  members  of  the  General 
Assembly  within  their  encampments;  and  authorising  the  General  Assembly  to  made  such  laws 
as  may  be  requisite  to  give  the  qualified  voters,  in  the  military  service  of  t lie  State,  or  the  Con- 
federate States,  on  the  day  of  any  election  under  the  Constitution,  the  right  to  vote  within  (heir 
encampments  at  such  elections,  and  authorizing  the  citizens  of  any  county  or  corporation  ab- 
sent  therefrom  because  of  the  presence  of  the  public  enemy,  who  would  be  qualified  to  vote  for 
members  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  such  county  or  corporation,  to  vote  at  any  general  or 
special  election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  for  their  counties  or  corporations. 

Passed  December  6,  1861. 

1.  Be  it  ordained,  That  the  qualified  voters  of  this  Commonwealth,  who  maybe 
in  the  military  service  of  the  State,  or  of  the  Confederate  States,  on  the  day  of 
any  general  or  special  election  for  the  General  Assembly,  may  vote  in  said  elec- 
tions at  such  place  or  places  within  their  encampment  as  the  commander  at  such 
encampment  shall  designate,  whether  the  said  encampment  shall  be  within  the 
limits  of  this  State  or  not. 

2.  For  each  place  of  voting,  the  commander  of  the  encampment*shall  appoint 
a  superintendent,  three  commissioners,  and  as  many  clerks  as  shall  be  necessary, 
who,  after  being  first'duly  sworn  by  him,  shall  perform  the  duties  required  of, 
and  be  liable  to  the  penalties  imposed  upon,  such  officers,  by  the  election  laws  of 
the  State.  The  said  commissioners  shall  open  polls  for  the  counties  and  corpora- 
tions of  the  State  from  which  there  may  be  voters,  in  the  s:jid  encampment,  desir- 
ing to  vote.  The  qualified  voters  who  present  themselves  to  exercise  the  right  of 
suffrage,  shall  be  each  asked  to  name  the  county  or  corporation  of  his  residence, 
and  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  to  represent  the  county  in  which  he  resides,  and  his 
name  shall  be  headed  in  the  poll  book,  opened  for  his  county  or  corporation. 
When  the  polls  taken  as  aforesaid  shall  be  closed,  the  commissioners  holding 
said  election,  shall  make  a  certified  statement  of  the  result  of  the  election  in 
such  encampment,  for  each  county  for  which  a  poll  was  opened,  and  shall  deliver 
the  statement  so  made  and  the  poll  book  to  the  commander  of  the  encampment, 
who  shall  forthwith  appoint  some  person  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  the  poll 
book  and  the  statement  of  the  result  to  the  court  house  of  the  county  for  which 
said  election  was  held,  and  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  officer  conducting  the  elec- 
tion at  the  court  house  of  said  county;  but  if  said  county  is  in  possession  of  the 
public  enemy,  then  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 
All  other  proceedings  shall  be  the  same  as  prescribed  by  the  election  laws  of  the 
State. 

3.  Power  is  hereby  given  the  General  Assembly  to  make  such  laws  during  the 
existing  war  between  the  Confederate  States  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  as  may  be  requisite  to  authorize  the  qualified  voters  of  the  Common- 
wealth who  may  be  in  the  military  service  of  the  State  on  the  day  of  any  elec- 
tion under  the  Constitution,  to  vote  within  their  encampment  at  such  elections. 

4.  The  citizens  of  any  county  or  corporation  absent  thereform  because  of  the 
presence  of  the  public  enemy,  who  would  be  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  such  county  or  corporation,  may,  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  present  war,  vote  at  any  general  or  special  election  for  members  of 
the  General  Assembly  for  their  counties  or  corporations  at  the  court  house  of 
any  county  or  corporation  in  the  State  where  they  may  happen  to  be  on  the  day 
of  said  election.  And  returns  shall  be  made  and  certificates  given  in  the  mode 
now  prescribed  by  law. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH8.5 


